Bos in the hunt at 3A State tourney

BELLINGHAM - It wasn't a career-type round that Justin Bos forged from the tree-lined Bellingham Country Club course yesterday. But his 6-over-par 78 was more than enough to leave him in the hunt in today's 18-hole finale of the WIAA Class 3A State Boys Golf Tournament.

The Sunnyside High School senior opened first day action at State by carving out a 40 on the front nine. He lowered his score to a 38 after the turn. His 18-hole 78 isn't head-turning at first glance, but when considering Bos toured the Bellingham course in a continual downpour of rain, his 6-over-par tally can be appreciated a bit more.

"It was umbrella city out here yesterday," said Sunnyside Coach Ryan Wattenbarger. "Lots of umbrellas and towels."

Except for the rain puddles, there was nothing splashy for Bos in Tuesday's opening round at State, confirmed Wattenbarger, explaining the Grizzly veteran completed his round with nothing better than a par.

"No birdies for him, but nothing worse than a bogey, either," Wattenbarger said. "It was kind of a mundane round for Justin.

"Except for a couple swings with his driver, all of his clubs were working well.

"Putting-wise," Wattenbarger continued, "he was solid. Just one three-putt, one one-putt.

"He stayed pretty consistent all the way through."

Prior to playing a couple of practice rounds earlier this week at what they had been told was a fairly tight course, the game plan for Bos at the Bellingham Country Club was to play it safe. He had figured on using 3-iron off the blocks, keeping his driver in his bag, the same ploy he successfully used at Regionals last week in earning a berth to State. But after getting a taste of the Bellingham course during his practice rounds this past weekend and on Monday, Bos changed gears.

"We found the course was a little more open than we expected," said Wattenbarger. "He hit driver more on Tuesday than the previous week at Regionals. For the most part, it worked out pretty well for him yesterday."

Tuesday's opening round at State left Bos in about 30th place, nine shots off the 3-under-par 69 lead shared by Daniel Shoey of Camas and Matt Rawlinger of Squilicum.

Bos was scheduled to tee off at 8:22 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). An hour prior, Wattenbarger said the sun was peeking through a light cloud cover. "It looks like it's going to be pretty nice for the kids today," he said.

Today's game plan, Wattenbarger, said, is for Bos to leave nothing on the table.

"The plan is for Justin to attack the course a little more," he said. "To rip his driver as far as he can hit it, to fire at the pins.

"He'll have to gamble a bit today. He has nothing to lose.

"The plan is to try and move up on the other golfers," said Wattenbarger.